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New to soccer (or as the rest of the world calls it - football)? So am I! This is my place to share thoughts about the sport and news and commentary about the clubs I'm following. Who am I following? LA Galaxy, IF Elfsborg, Falkenbergs FF, Liverpool FC, and LAFC. Send comments to rrblog[at]yahoo[dot]com.

Liverpool Klopp Episode 31 - Toy Story

LFC's next two matches are the two-legs of Europa League knock-out round of 32. Since the winner of the Europa Cup gets an invite to the Champions League, Klopp has said he will field a strong side probably similar to the one last Sunday at Aston Villa.

The injury list is still long leaving Liverpool short on center-back options. Hopefully, the aging wily veteran Toure can continue to sip from whatever magical waters he has been drinking from lately and Sakho will stay focused for a full 90 minutes, they should be okay. On the offensive side of the field, the question mark is the durability of the the newly returned Coutinho and Sturridge. Am anticipating they will be subbed off at some point regardless of the score unless the medical staff is very confident they can go longer. Thus, Origi and Benteke and others need to be ready to come in and make a difference.

In any case, let's hope the team can put together an end-to-end performance against Augsburg on a cold winter's night on Thursday. The group can't get cocky or complacent after the drubbing they administered to Aston Villa. Augsburg is struggling in the Bundesliga and would love to jump start their team by knocking off Coach Klopp, one of the leagues "star coaches." They will be highly motivated and should have vocal home field support.

Now that LFC has more of the pieces in place to be competitive, they can make some noise! Go Liverpool!!

UPDATE:
Here the Liverpool Echo writers engage in the guessing game of the starting line-up. They are mostly in agreement that LFC will put on the field the same team that thrashed Aston Villa.

UPDATE:
Wasn't near a TV nor a computer. Anyway, the final score was 0-0. Both sides sounded like they had a few chances but didn't cash them in. LFC won the possession battle, had more shots and shots on goal, and corner kicks. That hasn't been usual for them. However, as usual, they didn't find the back of the net. Next match is next week against Augsburg but at Anfield. This is followed 3-days later by the League Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley.